What term on a claims-made liability form marks the earliest date on which an incident may occur and still be covered?

• A. Retroactive Date
• B. Inception Date
• C. Effective Date
• D. Policy Start Date

Answer: (A)

In a claims-made liability form, coverage depends on when a claim is filed, not when the damage happened. The retroactive date marks the earliest date on which an incident may occur and still be covered. If the incident occurred before that date, it generally isn’t covered even if the claim is made during the policy period; if it occurs on or after that date and the claim is made during the policy period (and other conditions are met), it will be covered. This boundary helps limit exposure to events that happened after the policy was in place. Other dates like the policy’s start or inception date indicate when the policy itself becomes effective, not the earliest incident date that can be covered under a claims-made form. Some policies allow extending the retroactive date with prior acts coverage to capture earlier incidents if claims are made during the current policy period.